JP2007028164A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of appropriately obtaining an output desired by a user even when erroneous recognition occurs in automatic recognition processing.
A recognition engine unit reads image data input from an image data storage unit (S11), and performs a recognition score calculation process for each page (S12). Next, it is determined whether or not the recognition score is smaller than the score setting value set by the user. If the recognition score is smaller than the score setting value (S13; Y), it is recognized that the page is blank. The image data of the page recognized as a blank sheet is read and displayed (S15). On the other hand, if the recognition score is not smaller than the score setting value (S13; N), it is recognized that the page is non-blank. Next, it is determined whether or not the image data of the next page is stored in the image data storage unit. If the image data of the next page is not stored (S14; N), the process is ended as it is.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a user interface, such as an electronic copying apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus such as an electronic copying apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, a printer apparatus, or a composite apparatus having these functions has a function of automatically recognizing a document size and type.
As an example of such an automatic recognition processing function, there is a technique proposed in the following patent document.
JP 2003-5471 A

  In Patent Document 1, when post-processing is performed on output paper on which image formation has been performed, such as stapling processing, punching processing, stamp processing, etc., after post-processing is performed before image formation (before output). A technique for automatically recognizing (predicting) a state in advance and displaying the result is disclosed.

However, in the automatic recognition processing function as described above, some misrecognition (false detection) that occurs when it is affected by an unexpected disturbance such as the inclination of the paper or the dirt adhering to the reading surface is technically applied. It was difficult to suppress completely for the reason.
SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus capable of appropriately obtaining an output desired by a user even when erroneous recognition occurs in automatic recognition processing.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a storage unit that stores image data, a recognition score calculation unit that calculates a recognition score that is a determination target of comparison processing based on the image data, a recognition score of the image data, Based on the comparison result with the evaluation function threshold value used as a reference for the comparison process, an extraction means for extracting specific image data, a display means for displaying the extraction result of the extraction means, and a change of the predetermined evaluation function threshold value The object is achieved by providing a change accepting means.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the extracting means converts image data having a recognition score within a predetermined range set with the evaluation function threshold as a reference into specific image data. Extract as

  The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the recognition score calculation means calculates a ratio of non-white pixels per page as the recognition score, and the extraction means As the specific image data, image data recognized as white paper is extracted based on the comparison result between the ratio of the non-white pixels per page and the evaluation function threshold value used as a reference for comparison processing. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, by providing the change accepting means for accepting the change of the predetermined evaluation function threshold value, the user can obtain a desired result even when the extracting means performs an erroneous extraction process. In order to obtain it, the predetermined evaluation function threshold value can be changed while confirming the display by the display means.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, image data having a recognition score existing within a predetermined range set with the evaluation function threshold as a reference is appropriately extracted by extracting as specific image data. The specific image data can be narrowed down.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, even if an erroneous determination is made in the blank paper recognition (extraction) process, the user can obtain a predetermined result while confirming the display by the display means in order to obtain a desired result. The evaluation function threshold can be changed.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
In the present embodiment, a blank sheet recognition (detection) technique for automatically recognizing whether or not a document is blank before performing an image forming process (such as a copying process) in the electronic copying apparatus will be described.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a partial configuration of functional blocks in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus includes an image data storage unit 11, a recognition engine unit 12, a setting input unit 13, a recognition result determination unit 14, and a recognition result display unit 15.

The image data storage unit 11 is a storage device for storing image data of a document read by a scanner device provided in the image forming apparatus, and a memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) that can freely change contents. Consists of.
The document image data stored in the image data storage unit 11 is not limited to the data read by the scanner device. For example, image data input from the outside via a network or the like (media ( It may be image data read from a storage medium.
The image data stored (held) in the image data storage unit 11 is configured to be input to the recognition engine unit 12.

The recognition engine unit 12 analyzes the image data input from the image data storage unit 11 and performs a recognition score calculation process for each page.
The recognition engine unit 12 includes a CPU (central processing unit) and a storage device that stores various programs. Here, the recognition score calculation program is executed by the CPU so as to exhibit its function. .
The recognition score calculated by the recognition engine unit 12 is a value that is a determination target when performing automatic recognition processing. In this embodiment, this recognition score is calculated for each page.
In the present embodiment, the ratio of areas that are not white pixels is treated as a recognition score.

The setting input unit 13 is an input device that receives an input of a score setting value by a user, and includes an operation button, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch sensor panel, and the like.
The score setting value that is accepted by the setting input unit 13 is a threshold value that serves as a determination criterion when performing automatic recognition processing.
The score setting value (threshold value) is treated as an evaluation function threshold value in the automatic recognition process.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen of the setting input unit 13 in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, score setting values, that is, threshold values are set in three levels, and these threshold levels are displayed to prompt the user to select and set threshold levels. It is configured.

The score setting value input setting method is not limited to such setting by selection input, and for example, an arbitrary setting value may be input directly using a keyboard or the like.
Also, the threshold value can be set by changing the level relative to the reference value by setting the current set value or the specified (default) value to level 0 and pressing the “+” and “−” keys. It may be.
In addition, when the score setting value is not input by the user, it is configured to be automatically set to a preset (default) value set in advance.

The recognition result determination unit 14 performs a comparison process between the recognition score for each page calculated by the recognition engine unit 12 and the score setting value received by the setting input unit 13, and further, based on the comparison result, the image data A blank page recognition (detection) process for determining whether or not the page data is blank page data is performed for each page.
The recognition result display unit 15 is a device that reads out the image data of the page determined to be blank paper data based on the recognition result determined by the recognition result determination unit 14 from the image data storage unit 11, and displays the image data. A display, a CRT (CRT) display, and the like are included.

The recognition result display unit 15 may be configured by a touch sensor panel or the like, and may also be configured to be used as the setting input unit 13.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an output display screen of the recognition result display unit 15 in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the page number determined to be blank and the image of the corresponding page are displayed.
In the present embodiment, when there are a plurality of pages determined to be blank, the pages are displayed so as to overlap each other, and the selected page is displayed over the entire surface.

Next, blank sheet recognition (detection) processing executed in the image forming apparatus having the above-described configuration will be described.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of blank sheet recognition (detection) processing in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.
First, the recognition engine unit 12 performs a reading process in which the image data input from the image data storage unit 11 is stored in a storage device in the recognition engine unit 12 (step 11). Here, image data for one page is acquired from the image data storage unit 11 and read.

Subsequently, the recognition engine unit 12 analyzes the acquired image data for one page, and performs a recognition score calculation process for each page (step 12).
Here, details of the recognition score calculation processing will be described.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of recognition score calculation processing executed in the recognition engine unit 12.
First, the recognition engine unit 12 specifies a pixel to be discriminated from the acquired image data for one page (step 21). In addition, the pixel which is another object is specified from the unidentified pixel having no history which is the object of the discrimination process.

Next, the recognition engine unit 12 determines whether or not the identified pixel is a white pixel (step 22). Whether the pixel is a white pixel or a non-white pixel is determined based on density information (data) of the determination target pixel. For example, when the density value of the determination target pixel is larger than 0, it is determined as a non-white pixel.
If the specified pixel is not a white pixel (step 22; N), the data of the number of non-white pixels is increased by 1 (step 26), and the process proceeds to step 23.
Specifically, one count is added to the value of the non-white pixel counter that counts the number of non-white pixels in the storage device provided in the recognition engine unit 12.
On the other hand, when the specified pixel is a white pixel (step 22; Y), the data on the number of non-white pixels is not changed, and the data on the total number of pixels is increased by 1 (step 23).
Specifically, one count is added to the value of the total pixel counter that counts the total number of pixels for one page in the storage device provided in the recognition engine unit 12.

Next, the recognition engine unit 12 determines whether or not there is an undetermined pixel in the image data of the page (step 24). Here, it is determined whether or not the discrimination process has been executed for all the pixels in the page.
If there is an unidentified pixel in the image data of the page (step 24; Y), that is, if the discrimination process has not been executed for all the pixels in the page, the process returns to the process of step 21 and a series of Repeat the process.
On the other hand, when there is no unidentified pixel in the image data of the page (step 24; N), that is, when the discrimination processing is executed for all the pixels in the page, the recognition engine unit 12 The values of the pixel counter and the non-white pixel counter are read, and the ratio of the non-white pixel area, that is, the recognition score is calculated by dividing the number of non-white pixels by the total number of pixels in one page (step 25), and the process is terminated. .

Returning to the description of FIG. 4, after the recognition score calculation process (step 12) is completed in the recognition engine unit 12, the recognition result determination unit 14 is accepted by the setting input unit 13 or is set to a specified (default) value. The score setting value (threshold value) is compared with the recognition score calculated by the recognition engine unit 12 to determine whether or not the recognition score is smaller than the score setting value (threshold value) (step 13).
When the recognition score is smaller than the score setting value (threshold value) (step 13; Y), the recognition result determination unit 14 recognizes (detects) that the page is blank.
Then, the recognition result display unit 15 reads the image data of the page recognized as blank paper from the image data storage unit 11, displays the image data of the page (step 15), and proceeds to the processing of step 14.
On the other hand, when the recognition score is not smaller than the score setting value (threshold) (step 13; N), the recognition result determination unit 14 recognizes (detects) that the page is non-blank.

Next, the recognition engine unit 12 determines whether the image data of the next page (page) is stored in the image data storage unit 11 (step 14).
When the image data of the next page (page) is stored in the image data storage unit 11 (step 14; Y), the processing returns to step 11 and a series of processing is repeated.
On the other hand, when the image data of the next page (page) is not stored in the image data storage unit 11 (step 14; N), the processing is ended as it is.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user visually confirms whether or not an appropriate page has been recognized (decided) as a blank sheet by checking the result display displayed on the recognition result display unit 15. Judgment can be made.
When the result display displayed on the recognition result display unit 15 is not what the user desires, the user increases or decreases the score setting value from the setting input unit 13, that is, resets it, and repeats the blank paper recognition process again. Can do.
That is, the user can change the score setting value by himself so as to obtain a desired appropriate recognition result.

In the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not the recognition score is smaller than the score setting value (threshold value) in the process of step 13, and all image data whose recognition score is smaller than the score setting value (threshold value) Is displayed on the recognition result display unit 15 as target image data for prompting confirmation.
As a modification of the method for extracting image data to be displayed on the recognition result display unit 15, setting is made so as to extract image data of a page having a recognition score within a predetermined range set based on a score setting value (threshold value). May be.

The predetermined range set based on the score setting value (threshold value) is, for example, a range of ± 10% of the score setting value (threshold value), a range obtained by lowering the 10-point threshold level from the score setting value (threshold value), or the like. As such, it can be set arbitrarily.
In this case, since a recognition result with a low possibility of erroneous recognition (false detection) is not displayed on the recognition result display unit 15, image data that prompts the user to confirm, that is, erroneous recognition (false detection) is performed. Data with high possibility can be narrowed down and displayed.
Thus, by reducing the number of candidate images displayed for confirmation of erroneous recognition (false detection), it is possible to improve convenience when the user confirms the display.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a partial configuration of functional blocks in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen of a setting input unit in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an output display screen of a recognition result display unit in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of blank sheet recognition (detection) processing in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of the calculation process of the recognition score performed in a recognition engine part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Image data memory | storage part 12 Recognition engine part 13 Setting input part 14 Recognition result determination part 15 Recognition result display part

Claims (3)

Storage means for storing image data;
A recognition score calculation means for calculating a recognition score to be a determination target of the comparison process based on the image data;
Extraction means for extracting specific image data based on a comparison result between the recognition score of the image data and an evaluation function threshold value serving as a reference for comparison processing;
Display means for displaying the extraction result of the extraction means;
Change accepting means for accepting a change in the predetermined evaluation function threshold;
An image forming apparatus comprising:   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the extraction unit extracts image data having a recognition score existing within a predetermined range set with the evaluation function threshold as a reference as specific image data. . The recognition score calculation means calculates a ratio of non-white pixels per page as the recognition score,
The extraction unit is configured to extract, as the specific image data, image data recognized as blank paper based on a comparison result between a ratio of areas that are not white pixels per page and an evaluation function threshold value serving as a reference for comparison processing. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is extracted.

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